JERUSALEM — An explosive device was detonated on Tuesday against an Israeli Army patrol along the decades-old Israeli-Syrian cease-fire line in the Golan Heights, and Israeli forces responded with artillery fire against Syrian military positions, according to Israeli officials.

It was the third bomb attack or attempted attack along Israel’s northern borders in less than two weeks, as spillover from the turmoil in Syria continues to destabilize a long-quiet frontier. It was being viewed in Israel as the most serious episode because it was the first to cause Israeli casualties, wounding four soldiers, one severely.

The attacks appeared to be attempts to exact revenge for airstrikes against weapons convoys and warehouses that have been attributed to Israel. Israel has refused to confirm or deny involvement in about half a dozen airstrikes over the past year, mostly in Syrian territory, but Israeli leaders have said they will act to prevent the transfer of sophisticated weapons from Syria to Hezbollah, the militant Lebanese Shiite organization. Israel and Hezbollah engaged in a monthlong war in 2006; Hezbollah is currently fighting in Syria to shore up an ally, the government of President Bashar al-Assad, in its struggle against rebel forces.

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Israeli soldiers prepared to evacuate a comrade wounded by a roadside bomb on Tuesday in the Golan Heights.CreditJalaa Marey/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

In remarks broadcast on Israel’s Army Radio, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “The frontier with Syria has been filling up recently with jihadi elements and Hezbollah, and this presents a new challenge to the state of Israel.”

He added, “In recent years we have succeeded in preserving the quiet in the face of the civil war in Syria, and we will act with forcefulness to preserve Israel’s security.”

Hezbollah accused Israel of striking one of its positions on the border between Lebanon and Syria in late February and threatened to retaliate. Israeli analysts said Hezbollah might have felt bound to respond because the latest airstrike appeared to have taken place on its home turf, just inside Lebanon. But the response would be measured, they said, because Hezbollah, deeply embroiled in Syria, has no interest now in setting off a major conflagration with Israel.

On March 5, Israeli forces in the Israeli-controlled portion of the Golan Heights fired at two men who they said were planting a bomb on the Syrian side of the border fence. The Israeli military said the men were “Hezbollah-affiliated terrorists.” Then on Friday, a large explosive device was detonated against an Israeli Army vehicle patrolling adjacent to the Israeli-Lebanese border. The blast damaged the vehicle.

Tuesday’s blast occurred when forces patrolling along the fence by the Druse village of Majdal Shams “identified suspicious movement” and got out of their vehicle, according to Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, a spokesman for the Israeli military. He said Israel viewed the Syrian Army as responsible for whatever happened across the border, adding that it was too early to say whether Hezbollah had also been involved in the most recent episode.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A3 of the New York edition with the headline: Blast in Golan Heights Wounds 4 Israeli Soldiers. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe